Pros
- $250 statement credit initial bonus offer
- Low intro APR on purchases and balance transfers
- High rewards rate
Cons
- Annual fee starting second year
- Above-average regular APR
- 2.7% foreign-transaction fee
Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
Transfer Fee: 3% (min $5)
- 6% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%).
- 6% Cash Back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions.
- 3% Cash Back at U.S. gas stations.
- 3% Cash Back on transit (including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more).
- 1% Cash Back on other purchases.
- Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout.
- Terms Apply.
Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months.
Rewards Details
- Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months.
- 6% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%).
- 6% Cash Back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions.
- 3% Cash Back at U.S. gas stations.
- 3% Cash Back on transit (including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more).
- 1% Cash Back on other purchases.
- Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout.
- Get up to $120 in statement credits annually when you pay for an auto-renewing subscription to Equinox+ at equinoxplus.com with your Blue Cash Preferred® Card. That’s $10 in statement credits each month. Enrollment required.
- Thinking about getting the Disney Bundle which can include Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+? Your decision made easy with $7/month back in the form of a statement credit after you spend $9.99 or more each month on an eligible subscription (subject to auto renewal) with your Blue Cash Preferred® Card. Enrollment required.
- Terms Apply.
Additional Info
- $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.
- Buy Now, Pay Later: Enjoy $0 intro plan fees when you use Plan It® to split up large purchases into monthly installments. Pay $0 intro plan fees on plans created during the first 12 months from the date of account opening. Plans created after that will have a monthly plan fee up to 1.33% of each eligible purchase amount moved into a plan based on the plan duration, the APR that would otherwise apply to the purchase, and other factors.
- Low Intro APR: 0% on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months from the date of account opening. After that, your APR will be a variable APR of 19.24% - 29.99%. Variable APRs will not exceed 29.99%.
- More Details & Reviews About Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
Is the Blue Cash Preferred Card Worth It?
The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express is worth it for moderate-to-heavy spenders who want bonus rewards in everyday purchase categories like groceries, streaming, gas and transit. It offers 1 - 6% cash back on purchases along with a $250 statement credit for spending $3,000 in the first 6 months.
The average person using this card could earn more than $1,450 in rewards over the first two years, which would cover the cost of membership fees for many years. The Blue Cash Preferred card’s annual fee is $0 intro for the first year and $95 per year after that.
What You Need to Do to Make the Blue Cash Preferred Card Worthwhile
To make the Blue Cash Preferred Card worthwhile, spend at least $3,000 in the first 6 months to earn the card’s $250 initial bonus. That alone will cover the cost of the Blue Cash Preferred Card’s annual fee for years.
Even without considering the initial bonus or supplemental benefits, you still don’t need to spend all that much to make the Blue Cash Preferred Card worth it. At the card’s maximum earning rate of 6% back, you’d need to spend less than $1,600 per year to break even when the annual fee is in effect. At the minimum earning rate of 1% back, you’d have to spend $9,500 per year.
The Blue Cash Preferred Card also has introductory APRs of 0% for 12 months on purchases and 0% for 12 months on balance transfers. After that intro period, though, you should strive to always pay your monthly bill in full so the card’s 19.24% - 29.99% (V) APR doesn’t eat into your rewards.
Blue Cash Preferred Highlights
-
$250 Initial Bonus
Spending at least $3,000 during the first 6 months that you have the Blue Cash Preferred Card will earn you a $250 statement credit. That’s slightly more than the average initial cash-back bonus, according to WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report.
-
Up to 6% Cash Back
At 6%, Blue Cash Preferred’s maximum cash-back earning rate certainly is high – roughly six times higher than what the average rewards card offers. This rate applies to U.S. streaming subscriptions and to purchases from U.S. supermarkets, for your first $6,000 in supermarket purchases each year.
-
3% Cash Back on Gas and Transit
Blue Cash Preferred cardholders earn 3% cash back on purchases made at U.S. gas stations as well as on transit-related purchases. This includes everything from parking and tolls to trains, taxis and rideshare services.
All purchases that don’t qualify for Blue Cash Preferred bonus categories get you 1% cash back.
-
0% Intro APRs
New cardholders enjoy an introductory APR of 0% for 12 months on purchases. That could help you avoid interest entirely on big-ticket purchases. Just bear in mind that the card’s regular APR – 19.24% - 29.99% (V) – will apply to any balance remaining at the end of the intro period. The card also offers an intro APR of 0% for 12 months on balance transfers, but it's accompanied by a balance transfer fee of 3% (min $5), making this part of the deal less appealing.
-
Numerous Secondary Benefits
In addition to rewards and low intro APRs, cardholders can take advantage of benefits such as rental car insurance and instant card numbers.
Blue Cash Preferred Lowlights
-
$95 Annual Fee Starting the Second Year
The Blue Cash Preferred® Card’s most glaring weakness is its $95 annual fee, which kicks in the second year your account is open. Sure, the rewards you stand to earn will help you quickly recoup your investment, but after the first year you’ll still be paying over 4 times more than what the average credit card charges. That’s what prevents applying for this card from being a no-brainer.
-
Higher-Than-Average APR
If you get approved for Blue Cash Preferred®, you will be assigned an APR that could be 19.24% - 29.99% (V), depending on your exact creditworthiness. The high end of this range is above the average for “fair-credit” credit cards, according to WalletHub Landscape Reports. The result is plastic that will prove quite expensive if you carry a balance from month to month.
-
Rewards Fine Print
Superstores, warehouse stores and wholesale clubs (e.g., Costco, Walmart and Target) do not qualify as supermarkets or gas stations for rewards purposes.
It’s also worth noting that the cash back is technically received in the form of “reward dollars” that can be redeemed for statement credits or at Amazon.com checkout. But that doesn’t really impact anything value-wise.
Other Things to Consider About Blue Cash Preferred
-
Free ShopRunner Membership
Your Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express scores you free two-day shipping for items purchased through the service, which offers products from more than 140 stores and thousands of brands. You can sign up for the benefit here. Ordinarily, a ShopRunner membership will cost you $79 per year.
-
2.7% Foreign Transaction Fee
American Express already has one strike against it when it comes to international spending, as its cards have lower international acceptance than cards on the Visa and Mastercard networks. The fact that it charges a fee equal to 2.7% of any purchase made outside of the U.S., whether you’re traveling abroad or just shopping from an internationally based merchant, is strike number two. It is higher than the 1.56% market-average foreign transaction fee and a deal breaker for any frequent traveler.
-
No Annual Fee For Authorized Users
Some rewards cards charge annual fees to authorized users in recognition of the fact that they have the same earning privileges as primary accountholders and should thus foot some of the bill. Blue Cash Preferred® is not among them. You can add an unspecified number of authorized users, whose spending will yield rewards for you, without paying extra. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you should rush to add authorized users, as doing so still poses distinct risks, but it’s certainly a feature worth knowing about.
Blue Cash Preferred vs. The Competition
Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express Review Methodology
This Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express review is based on WalletHub’s proprietary 100-point credit card rating system. By using a consistent methodology to evaluate the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express and all other cards, WalletHub’s credit card experts make it easy for people to compare their options and find the best credit cards for their needs.
The WalletHub rating system uses 16 key metrics grouped into seven categories: Fees, Rewards, Two-year Cost, Interest Rates, Approval Requirements, Special Features, and Reviews. Each metric has a maximum number of points allocated to it, based on the metric’s importance as determined by our editors. The points are added up to create an overall rating for the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express out of a maximum of 100 points, which is then converted to a 5-point scale.
Ratings for each category reflect how close Blue Cash Preferred is to WalletHub’s definition of a 5-star credit card, which is based on market conditions and what we believe are reasonable terms. We compare Blue Cash Preferred to that standard to give a numerical approximation of how reasonable and competitive its terms are compared to other cards.
To learn more about how WalletHub rates credit card offers, check out our full credit card review methodology.
WalletHub experts are widely quoted. Contact our media team to schedule an interview.